Had an earlier start, 8am breakfast at the Caravan park restaurant. Trav got his Bacon and Eggs, has been croissants for a long time! Got straight on the boat to Venice and walked to St Marks Square for another Bircerin at The Florian. This time there was a €6 per person Orchestra surcharge, to listen to Piano, Violin, Double-Bass, Clarinet and Accordion. Made us feel a bit richer paying that. So much easier to navigate on the second day – Venice is a city easy to get lost in, to get from A to B involves lots of left and right turns – no long streets. Was a lot quieter being Sunday. Even the hand-bag sellers were very sparce and did not appear until late in the day. There was a concert in the square the night before, we heard sound-check yesterday. By the posters, we're pretty sure it was Norah Jones playing.

. Part of it fell down a long time ago, and the next morning the Venetians (haha, been dying to say that!) woke up to the whole tower collapsed on the ground. They rebuilt it (obviously). Elevator ride to the top, and its a good view of the whole town. Cheap postcards and Calendars for sale up top.

Checked out Basilicia of San Marco, which is St Marks Church. No talking, no skin showing (Kel had to pay €1 for a paper shroud to cover her boobs), no backpacks, no photography, no video-ography, etc. However they welcome you to pay the entrance fee, + another fee to see behind the altar, + expensive post cards! I guess they believe if you cant take photos, you’ll buy the postcard. The Church was quite nice, we were able to climb to the top where the Statues of 4 horses are, and get good views of the square below. Were able to take photos outside on the Balcony.

Had a Gondola ride in Venice, another thing on Kels list of things to do. The driver spoke good English, and provided some good commentary. No free Champagne, but I think it was still before lunch time anyway. He’s been doing Gondolas for 26 years, but doesn’t have massive Biceps – its all in the technique. A lot of low bridges, where he leans his weight to one side for the Gondola to tip to allow the front pointy statue bit of the boat to only just pass under

. He also has to duck at the same time. Our tour took us thru the small streets (even though they are water ways, they are still called streets), the Grand Canal, and also a small portion in the water way where a Cruise Ship had just passed – was a bit choppier there! Some of the small streets are very quiet and peaceful, with no one in sight. Some are more congested with Gondolas, where there is a bit of a Gondola-Jam!

Facts of the day:

Venice is SINKING at an alarming rate! 2.5 inches per decade. Our book also tells us Venice is a city which shouldn’t exist, but does. Some sort of medieval argument happened, and people got put there and cut off from the main land. They managed to survive on the 160+ islands – which now feels like only 1 or 2 islands. Flooding occurs almost daily – we didn’t see it, but our Gondola driver said the water often floods 40cm above high tide. There are also lots of photos up, of St Marks square full of water. All buildings are several stories tall, so I guess people don’t use their ground floor much anymore – only for fishing!

Stayed the night at Bologna, so we were closer to Tuscany for our next adventure. First caravan park with its own Pizzeria. Possibly the best pizzas we’ve ever had!